Light or Dark?

It seems that some people are confused about where God lives. Some Atheists, Agnostic or skeptics say that the Bible says that God lives in darkness (1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chronicles 6:1; Psalm 18:11; Isaiah 45:3; Lamentations 3:2; Exodus 20:21; Amos 5:18). Furthermore, those same people will say that God lives in the light (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Psalm 104:1-2 ; John 8:12). Which is it, light or dark? Is there a contradiction here?

First, lets look at some obvious verses that we can dismiss right off the bat. Look at Amos 5:18 which says, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light (KJV).” This verse is not saying that God lives or dwells in the darkness, what it says is “the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.” Again, the “day of the LORD” is darkness, not light.” The “day of the Lord” is an event that will occur in the last days at the return of Christ from heaven (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). According to Amos, that day would be a period of great darkness for any in rebellion against God, whether Jew or Gentile. That day would be a time of judgment (Isaiah 13:6, 9; Jeremiah 46:10), as well as restoration (Isaiah 14:1; Joel 2:28–32; Zephaniah 1:7, 14–16; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10).

The second verse we can take off the list is Lamentations 3:2 which states, “He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light (KJV).” Obviously, “He” is God and “me” is the author who penned this verse. So, we have God leading and making the author walk in darkness and not in light. Now, in this case, darkness symbolizes blind judgment, rebellion or no knowledge of righteousness and the light symbolizes having knowledge of God, obedience and being in the will of God. This verse says nothing about where God lives or where He dwells.

The next verse we can ignore is Exodus 20:21. In this case, we need the two verses before it to set up our circumstances so we will know what‘s going on. In this situation, Moses had just come down from the mountain where he received the Ten Commandments and was speaking to the people at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 20:18-21 says, “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was (KJV).”

The Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Psalm 97:2) describes the inscrutable nature of God's workings among the sons of men, he says, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." In this case, God only dwells in thick darkness temporarily, for a time or season in history. In Exodus 20:18 we see that the mountain Moses was just on was “smoking.” Isn’t smoke thick and dark? Are the skeptics suggesting that God lives on top of a mountain and that He lives inside the smoke? I doubt it. My God is much, much bigger than that! It’s not that God lives or dwells on the mountain or inside the thick dark smoke. However, it’s that God chose to appear to Moses on the mountain inside the smoke. God appears to man in many places and in many forms. This verse never says that God lives or has made the thick darkness His home or His throne.

The next verse we can knock off the list is Isaiah 45:3 which says, “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel (KJV).” The person “thee” in this verse is Cyrus and God is proclaiming blessings upon him. God states what He will do for Cyrus. God says He will “ loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places (Isaiah 45:1-3).”

God is not saying that He lives or dwells in darkness. He is saying to Cyrus that He will give him treasures that are hidden in the darkness and in secret places. These treasures may be hidden in dungeons, caves, tombs and in places that only God knows where they are. God never says that he lives or dwells in the darkness.

The next verse we can remove from this list is Psalm 18:11, which states, “He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies (KJV).” David sang this to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from his enemies, but especially from Saul. Look at the two verses before it in Psalm 18:9-10, “He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. Mounted on a mighty angel, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind (KJV).” In Other words, through the poetic expressions in the obvious and figurative language of David, he was implicating that darkness was God’s robe or that God enshrouded Himself with darkness which veiled his approach as He was coming down, hiding Him from sight with dense clouds dark as murky waters as God came in to protect him. This verse never suggests nor gives any hint or implies that God lives or dwells in the darkness.

1 Kings 8:12 and 2 Chronicles 6:1 are the same reference which states, “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness (KJV).” Without understanding the context, anyone reading this verse could assume that Solomon is suggesting that God lives or makes His home in thick darkness. However, the darkness is referring to the darkness of the Holy of Holies. The darkness of the Holy of Holies was symbolical of the dwelling place of Jehovah. The word “dwell” in this sense simply means that God chose to reside in the cloud temporarily or in the form of a cloud.

1 Kings 8:6-7,10 says, “Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 7For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.” 10“And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD (NKJV).” God appears in the cloud above the mercy seat which is above the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is located inside the Temple in the room called the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 16:2). The cloud is not the home of God but the form in which God chose to appear. God does not live or dwell in thick darkness but temporarily chose to appear before the Priests and to Moses in a thick cloud of smoke.

The Bible says that God’s home or dwelling place is in heaven (Deuteronomy 26:15; 1Kings 8:30,39,43,49; 1Kings 8:30,39,43,49; 1Chronicles 16:31; 1Chronicles 21:26; 2Chronicles 2:6; 2Chronicles 6:18,21,27,30,33,35,39; 2Chronicles 30:27; Nehemiah 9:27; Job 22:12,14; Psalms 2:4; Psalms 11:4; Psalms 20:6; Psalms 33:13; Psalms 102:19; Psalms 103:19; Psalms 113:5; Psalms 123:1; Psalms 135:6; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 63:15; Isaiah 66:1; Jeremiah 23:24; Lamentations 3:41,50; Daniel 4:35; Daniel 5:23; Zechariah 2:13; Matthew 5:34,45; Matthew 10:32,33; Matthew 11:25; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 18:10,14; Mark 11:25,26; Mark 16:19; Acts 7:49; Romans 1:18; Hebrews 8:1; Revelation 8:1; Revelation 12:7-9; Revelation 21:22-27; 22:1-5).

1 Timothy 6:16 says that God is the “Father of Lights.“ 1 John 1:5 says that “God is light.” 1 Peter 2:9 says that Christians were chosen by God and have “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (NKJV).” This simply means that God has brought them out of spiritual blindness into the realty of spiritual truth.

Psalm 104:1-2 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain (NKJV).” Obviously, if God is light (1John 1:5) then he would be the Father of lights (1 Timothy 6:16) then naturally God would be clothed in light.

In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (NKJV).” Again, the phrase “walk in darkness” refers to spiritual blindness and the “light of life” refers to the figurative spiritual truth and light that everyone will see inside a Christian since God has placed His Holy Spirit inside every believer.

When Jesus says He is “the light of the world,” He is referring metaphorically of truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it. Also, He is the Passover lamb, the Lamb of God, that was to exposed and inspected to the view of all, openly, publicly. Furthermore, the “light of the world” suggests that Jesus is the power of understanding especially moral and spiritual truth.